Dangerous Games
by Bismarck Khan
Summary: It was 3 years ago that Harry and Hermione had a falling out. Now Harry is forced into leading a team with Hermione as a member. As they rediscover their feelings with Serious i mean Sirius oppps Black and Remus & Tonks Lupin bludgeoning sense in2 him.
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

The house of Head of the Auror Department was busy. Well any moron would figure that out. The question was why in the name of all heavens was it in such state of disarray. There were shouts coming out from the living room and a man in his early 40's was smashing his fist at the door which was obviously locked so that it can't be opened either in any muggle or magical style. This man had brown hair cut short recently and was not very pleased with the behaviour of the person locked inside the room shouting something none could understand.  
This was Remus Lupin, the professor of DADA at Hogwarts school of Witchcraft and Wizardry, & he was trying (i might add 'in vain")to get his friend for 30 yrs. and not so matured Sirius Black out of his Bedroom to talk to the people waiting for him downstairs. These people included the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, Headmaster Albus Dumbledore and the deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall and Amelia Bones, the Head Magical Law and if one might add Sirius's boss. Only Dumbledore and she were not using their mouth to shout anything and the former was enjoying the affair, if his twinkling eyes were any indication.  
Fudge turned round in his seat to look at Dumbledore, and one look at his face showed the person how annoyed he was.

"Why don't you say something to him, Albus" he said through gritted teeth.

Dumbledore gave him a pleasant smile and replied " Ahh Cornelius if I thought he would listen to me I would have done something a long time ago".  
With that been said he returned his attention to his plate on the table filled with pleasantries by Molly. Amelia, who stopped glancing through the book to listen to the exchange, gave Albus an easy smile and returned to the book before her.

McGonagall was not pleased by all that was going on. Well for a fact it started when her favourite students name was popped up and this was the reason that she was in foul mood that evening. This, not so mature, behaviour from Sirius didn't help her mood much either. She was about to get up and give (shout) a piece of her thoughts to Sirius when she heard Albus say

"Plz sit down Minerva, I think Sirius would come down within an hour or so. I think he remembers very well how Harry reacted last time when her name was mentioned and to be frank one could hardly blame him for not being very forthcoming with this idea."

McGonagall gave a very hard look and said "That was not very good display by Potter; I mean has he even considered the fact that the thing he blames her of may even not be true. I mean he knows her for far too long to think in that way"

"Don't blame Harry Minerva, he has had a hard past and nothing in his life was very fair so he thinks that nothing in his will ever be fair."

Dumbledore voice was too sad not to be noticed by all of them present there, even the person sitting in the locked room.

The door opened and Sirius came out looking relieved and shouted "See, see i told you Moony he is too upset and you people(he pointed accusingly at all of them out there) are not going to cox me into doing it. I like my life with Harry in it, Thank you very much". He huffed and sat down with a pout on his face.  
Remus looked at Dumbledore and gave him knowing smile and rolled his eyes at Sirius. Dumbledore gave him innocent look and smiled at Sirius. Their exchange was lost on every one as they were all focused on Sirius.  
Remus Lupin always observed how Dumbledore's simplest comment coxed Sirius, James and Harry out of their tantrums. Three very headstrong people in the world, he added in his head and smiled lovingly.

Sirius was still pouting like child whose wish for chocolate was denied. Dumbledore turned his head to look at him more seriously and said "But Sirius he is the only one i trust in completing the job and to make sure that the information is kept safe and off unwanted channels. I think he will not react violently if he knew the stakes we risk of the operation".

McGonagall scoffed at being reminded of Harry's reaction last time her name was mentioned in his presence. She couldn't understand that boy. He reminded her of Lily most of the time though he looked like James but sometimes the thick headed behaviour he showed was uncannily James showing in him.

Sirius faced looked as if he was thinking deeply and Remus was relieved. If he was thinking SIRIUSLY, he thought amusedly, then he was coming around. After a ten minute silence he said very seriously, "Alright, but still I am not telling him, and me and me alone will tell him that I was a part of the scam. O.K?"

Dumbledore smiled "Alright Sirius, but you alone know where he is right now. So go and get him here and say that we want to talk to him."

Sirius gave a startled look and Dumbledore said "By we I meant the rest of us. You are blissfully ignorant of this SCAM." he added giving Sirius an amused look interpreting correctly the unbelievable look on his face.  
Remus gave hearty laugh and shoved Sirius of the armchair to get going.

**Somewhere in midland China...**

Harry Potter sighed, a very long breath out. 'He didn't understand the Chinese "elders"', he thought wistfully, 'thought process. Why would anyone consider this stupid spell to be a dark spell?' He got up from the reading table and stretched his back and went into the kitchen. He passed Neville's room as he made his way to the kitchen. It appeared to him that he was in deep thoughts about water plant he was reading about.

He and Harry had this idea of travelling around the world to seek knowledge first hand in the subjects they were interested in, Herbology and Defence against the Dark-arts. He, Harry had written about 4 books on DADA while Neville thought of compiling all his knowledge of the subject into one great encyclopaedia of Herbology. So far he had 6 volumes of it down and was thinking of finishing off with one last volume and was working on it endlessly for 2 weeks.

Harry's problem was that he could not decide which of the dark spells to add to his books so that he didn't give anyone willing to be a dark witch/wizard any additional information. His notes on the other hand consumed an entire cupboard and if he was not known for his battle against the dark forces and his despise of the dark arts, one would think that he was planning to lead a bunch of Death eaters himself.

Their work there was complete if Neville finished his last volume, then they could go back to England."Ahh home", thought Harry wistfully. Although their stay everywhere was comfortable and the professors were all forthcoming in sharing their knowledge, it would be good to be back home. He missed talking to Sirius and Lupin, and also he could go back to the Burrow. Molly's cooking, he thought slowly rubbing his stomach. Neville was surprisingly good cook using magic, and in muggle places he, Harry would do the cooking, thanks to the experience he had at the Dursleys. He even managed to acquire the recipes of some of the famous regional dishes. They have so far been to Egypt, India, America, South America, Mexico and finally to China. Their stay here was the longest, due to their long history and the only place which came up to this was their stay in India.

He knocked on Neville's door and enquired, "Hey Neville how's your volume coming?" He passed the reading table and sat down on the armchair taking a bite of his sandwich.

Neville turned around and said "Do you do on purpose or you accidentally came into the room of a hungry bloke eating a sandwich without offering anything to him?" Harry gave him a smile and gave him the sandwich full of onions (Neville's favourite) which he was hiding behind his back. They were very close now after travelling to alien lands together. Neville gave him grateful smile accepting his sandwich and said

"Thanks Harry and yes the final touch is coming very good." He took a pause and said "And your short notes is also done on the carnivorous plants and you have an assignment."

Harry looked at him with interest and motioned him to go Neville continued "The plant "xcheinly" is somewhat like a dragon, you see it has very thick protection layer so that it can protect itself from spells, and it needs 3 to 5 persons stunning it. So you have to come up with a better way to subdue it, without killing or poisoning it", he added.

Just then there was this huge noise in their living room and the voice of person cursing in a manner that, if Molly or Augusta (Neville's grandma) heard it, they would be jinxed to never speak again. Harry recognized the voices as Sirius and Remus bickering. He surprised, looked at his watch it was 2.30 in the afternoon so it must have been 7 in the morning in England, and that too on a working day and Remus was not known to skive of any working day, and also he was not on talking terms with Remus after the last disagreement they had about 15 days prior to today. He turned to Neville who gave him surprised look and both of them ran into the living room, wands raised though.

Sirius gave a great yell and ran forward to hug Harry very hard and then hugged Neville. Harry thought that Sirius was taking lessons from Molly herself about hugging. He made his way to Remus and gave him a light hug and motioned him to sit down. He could sense that Remus was nervous and thought that it was due their disagreement on his last visit and gave him an encouraging smile and turned to Sirius to find him as nervous as he was when he knew he had face a dragon, if not more. This surprised and worried him a little. Has something terrible happened back home? Did Dumbledore finally pass away on to his next adventure?

He was about to ask them when Neville asked them in low voice "Guys, has something happened back home? Is every one alright? Granny? Luna? They are fine, right?" He had very worried look on his face also. Remus on hearing this said in very fast manner " NO ,no no everything is fine. They are all fine. Happy and healthy." he added.  
"It is that..mm.. we...hmm ...Dubledore asked us ...to ask you ...well he wanted to ask both of you if you would join the team he chose on a mission,..Top Secret and all that." Sirius shook his head vigorously at Lupin when he said "we".

Harry and Neville both exchanged a look and came to the conclusion that it was not all. Harry then looked at Sirius and said "O.K Paddy what's up? Its not all, otherwise you would not be nervous" Neville nodded to show that he too thought so, "SO say it and i promise i won't be violent". He kept his face stiff so as to assure them that he was serious.

Sirius looked at Remus and nodded and Remus said "Dumbledore fears that the great ruins of the "8 wizard civilization" was found and a group of witches and wizards calling themselves O.W.A.W , are interested in robbing the riches supposed to be stored in them. But I think there is more to it than he letting out. So the problem is team he chose consists of best witches and wizards in Defence, he nodded at Harry: Herbology, he gave Neville a look, curse breaking-Bill, Ancient Ruines- a old warlock named Edwards Wildheart and an Unspeakable..."

Neville looked at Lupin as if to ask him to complete the name of final member of the team, but Harry knew who she was and now he understood why they were nervous at the start. He completed the sentence for Neville to understand, "Hermione Granger", he said in monotonic voice. Remus gave him an irritated look, while Sirius and Neville looked at him apologetically and understandingly, respectively.

All of them were looking at Harry, waiting for him to blow them off for even considering him working with her. But after a long pass, he nodded taking a great breath of fresh air and said "So what is the story of the 8 witches and wizards, what is their story?"

Sirius was surprised at how well he was taking this, while Remus and Neville were looking as if this was not very far from what they thought would happen.

Remus answered his question as he thought Sirius would be incapable of answering his question

"We don't know Harry, Dumbledore mentioned that he would explain it to the team once they were assembled."

He looked at his watch and added "The meeting is within an hour".

The next half an hour was spent completely in silence. Harry thoughtful, and the rest fearful of saying anything to ignite the famous Potter temper, packing both Harry's and Neville's luggage when everything was packed, Sirius gave flick of his wand vanishing their luggage and explained "We are going to Grimmauld Place".

Remus removed a very old looking stick and said in quiet voice "20 seconds" and everybody held out their hands and touched the old walking stick and Harry felt the familiar sensation of portkey flowing through his body. He looked all around the place to see for the changes if there were any."No" he mused 'everything was same, so Remus was not able to get his wish of modifying the place from a bachelors place to a home.

He smiled at Remus and said "Still no success in getting your wish" he asked.

Remus smiled at him and said "No" and added "I never expected it to happen, just wishful thinking I guess."

Sirius who heard their conversation looked at Lupin and said seriously "Moony I am manly and I am not going to give the place girly looks, NEVER."

And went into the kitchen to see if the team arrived. As he got nearer to the kitchen he could hear Dumbledore talking to a man whose voice sounded weedy and old, he could also hear Bill Weasley telling Hermione about a recent story of the twins and she was laughing heartily. He opened the door and entered. McGonagall stood up fast and asked him urgently "Well?" He observed that there was silence in the room. He looked at all of them and nodded.  
Everybody looked at Hermione to see how she was reacting. She was calm, at least on the surface, but Sirius felt that it was a similar look to that was on Harry's face when he realized that she was on the team. Dumbledore looked at him and said, "Call them in Sirius we have to update them about what they have to do."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer:- ** _ I forgot to do this in the last chapter, So here it comes. I dont think any of you are stupid enough to think I own Harry Potter,so i feel disclaiming something everyone knows is not my creation is pointless . Moreover it makes feel like an Idiot, so forget about the Disclaimer and enjoy the story...if you like it of course if not please bring what you don't think is logical to my notice _

As Harry Potter entered the kitchen I distinctly felt that everyone was looking at him. He was well accustomed to this kind of behaviour, as he had experienced this very often.  
He looked at everyone once more and said "Hello everybody, How are you all?" and then he noticed Bill walking towards him with a parcel in his hand and he too made his way towards him. He always felt that If he ever had a say in his fate he would have asked a big brother like Bill.

He always treated Bill as he was his big brother. As he got closer he smiled at him and asked "So Bill, I heard of the good news. When is Bill jnr coming to greet us? Or is it Fleur jnr?" Bill gave him a large smile and said "Well, she is dated to give birth at the end of July. Maybe the kid will share its birthday with Uncle Harry, What say?"  
Harry laughed out and said "well if she did share her birthday with me, then it will save Molly from the strain of at least one more party. So how are the Weasleys? Still the same ? ".  
Bill gave steady handshake and hugged him tight and said with a very serious look on his face "Well Mr. Potter, we Weasleys are already perfect, and it is very difficult to improve when someone is at that level".

Both of them eyed each other for about half a minute and then broke out laughing heartily.  
Harry stopped laughing and said "It is very good to be back home. And I missed you guys very much."

He gave Bill an incredulous look and asked

"Is it true that Fred is getting married?".

Bill laughed at the look on his face and replied "I am afraid so Harry. I didn't believe mum when she said that"

"Ohh Bill I can't believe little Freddie proposed to that sweet girl he is dating. Ohh all my babies are all grown up," he finished imitating Molly's voice perfectly

"George's still sulking about that. He reckons Fred deceived him and broke the pact they made when they were 6." Bill gave a head shake as he finished the words and continued "When they were 6 yrs, I mean come on, it's like both stupid and childish".

Harry laughed loudly and said "Well it's George we are talking about. I would be more worried if talked with me sanely. What is the parcel Bill?" At this Bill gave a start and exclaimed "Good lord I am glad you mentioned it. Mum would have killed and buried me if I had returned with this. Well, you know how mum feels about Sirius's cooking ability. So this is food for you & Neville till you come to the Burrow tomorrow. And when I said about you coming tomorrow, it isn't an invitation or a request" .He gave wink to Harry when he said the last part.

Harry smiled at this and knew that he would have almost no chance arguing with Molly when she gave an instruction. If Arthur who knew her for so long didn't have a chance winning with her he wouldn't definitely not have one. And there was the fact that he was back after about 6 months. He wouldn't have had a chance even if god himself argued otherwise.  
Next he went to Dumbledore, who was smiling at him and Bill from the beginning of their conversation. Harry gave him a smile and said "Albus, it's never less than exciting is it, when I meet you? Or do you call me only when there is a chance my breaking my neck or so?"

It had taken a while for Harry to call his headmaster by name but he had been adamant that as he was no longer Harrys Headmaster he was free to call him anything, even an old prick if he, Harry, liked.

Albus Dumbledore gave Harry a large smile and "Well, it is the way with some people Harry, when they meet, others can predict the outcome and reason of their meeting. It was the same when James and Lilly came face to face with each other"

Harry smiled at the mention of his own name and said "Albus are you by any chance proposing me to marry you?" He gave Dumbledore a fake look of terror.  
Dumbledore laughed out loudly and said" Well Harry I think it would be better if we don't do so. It would make us a great pair but honestly there is great age gap between us and it might hinder our union".

McGonagall was talking with Hermione taking a few quick glances at Harry. Harry gave her a very irritated look. He understood why she was talking to her right now while it was clear as broad day that she was reading a book when he came in.

She knew that next he would talk to her and if she stood talking to Hermione he would have to talk to his ex-girlfriend too and this was not something he was looking forward to. As far as he, Harry was concerned this encounter would wait till the last breath he took.

Sensing this, Sirius turned to Dumbledore and said

"Come on now Albus say to the TEAM why they are here."

He looked at Harry and saw him give a very relieved look, where as McGonagall and Remus both gave nasty looks directed at Sirius. Dumbledore observed this exchange shaking his head and laughing silently and answered "Not yet Sirius, the team is yet not complete. The Ministry wants to add a few Aurors for their protection."

At these words Hermione looked perplexed and said "Professor Dumbledore why would we need Auror protection. I understand why Harry is here to study an Ancient ruined civilization but … Aurors?

It had been 3 yrs since Harry had heard her voice the last time. It still had the same sweetness in it as before. He felt like he could drown in the sweetness. At this thought he shook his head and turned his head away quickly refocusing his attention on the matter in front of them.

This action was not lost on both Remus and Sirius. They exchanged a quit smile both thinking 'Maybe this team is going to do what they wanted to do for so long.

Dumbledore looked at Hermione with a smile on his face and said "Miss Granger as you know about a group of miss-doers are also trying to get to the bottom of the mystery and I fear that they know what they are looking for right inside this ruined building. But we have an advantage over them because as far as I know, which is quite a lot, I hope you agree, the only people who can solve this mystery are people in front of me. Especially Harry and Edwards, Their knowledge in Dark Arts and Ancient ruins is vast. Edwards like Harry travelled throughout the world and learned different types of native ruin languages."

He looked at them inquisitively as though asking them to put forward their doubts. Harry looked around and found that no one had any doubt and asked "Albus if we are here to solve the mystery and we might be in danger, wouldn't it be better if we ourselves test these aurors if they are fit for defending our lives."

At these words Fudge bristled

"Mr Potter, I assure you that the Ministry will send it's best to protect you and the team. They are well trained and are the best in what they do"

Harry looked at the man he long ago decided not to trust with even his door knob, saying "Come on now Fudge don't be too conceited, we both know what you people teach the aurors in the academy. If your memory isn't weak you will remember that I was in this so called academy. It was so useless that I quit after 6 months of training. And if what Dumbledore said is true, then this stupid group of dacoits know all this. If they are planning for some time now they will have recruits in some hundreds and do you honestly think your Aurors can handle a hundred well trained hit men targeting them. Well I don't think so. I want to train them with me for at least three weeks before they are ready and they only form the outer ring of protection"

Fudge looked like he swallowed a sour, sour lemon and looked at Dumbledore accusingly. Dumbledore gave a shake of his head and smiled at Harry. "Alright Harry as you seem to know what you have to do and had already planned on the defensive strategy, you will be responsible for the well-being of the team." He looked at everyone else and added "That is if no one else complains against it." Every one shook their head as if to say they didn't have any problems against this.  
Harry however was shocked "But Albus Mr Wildheart is much more experienced than me shouldn't he be…".

He was cut off before he even finished his words by a smiling Wildheart who said "Harry I have more experience than you in Ancient ruins, not in Defence and Strategy. And any way I would be far too busy deciphering the ruins to have any time to focus on others welfare, and oncoming enemy."

" So now that we have agreed upon that Harry is going to lead the team, let's get forward and listen to Albus's story of this 8 pieces. "Remus gave Harry a stern look as he saw him open his mouth and continued looking focusedly at Dumbledore "You know Albus i think i have heard about the story of 8 pieces but... i can't remember it."  
Before Dumbledore opened his mouth Hermione voice was heard "Oh i know about it. Its' an old Legend, i had read it this old book. It was said that before the people of earth knew how to use their magic through wielding the wands, there came 8 Gods to visit the earth. They taught us how to focus the magic through wands and also pretty much everything we know today as ancient magic. Before they left after seemingly have taught us(people of earth) what they felt we needed in order to become a great civilization, they gathered the then very small population of our planet and said "Unless you remember what we taught you about love, and care for each other, you would perish" or something like that and they vanished."

She was breathless from saying all this very fast. McGonagall gave the girl she now loved as her own granddaughter a proud look, while Harry gave wry smile. "Typical Hermione, Always sounds as though she chewed and digested a whole library".

"Very good Hermione but it was not all." He saw her disappointed look and added "Ohh, don't be disappointed Hermione, because what i am about to tell you is kept as secret within the Headmasters/Headmistress of Hogwarts alone."

He turned his face to look at all of them and continued "It is said that they didn't mearly prophecise their words to people but they planned it out so that what they said gave us time to develop into this huge civilization and still retain the values they taught. They poured their powers into a single locket and placed it in a very secure chamber protected by their magic."

"But their plans were foiled by none other than our great ancestor Merlin who heard this and sought out to solve the found the place but he realized that he didn't have the necessary qaulity to disslove the power of the locket so he came up with a very smart plan to give the Earth a better chance. He broke up the Locket into eight pieces and he disappeared from the seen almost instantaneously and a prophecy was heard by Wilwane Griffindor,the great great grandfather of Godric Griffindor who was the beloved student of Merlin helping him in finding the answer to solve the puzzle"

Albus Dumbledore looked around to see the very focused faces of his former students "A voice was heard saying 'though Merlin gave you a better chance of survival the Eight Pieces will surface at the same time after a Millennium, and if the pieces were not united within 7 yrs of their surfacing and destroyed, they will be forever undestroyable and though the Earth will not fall, It would be a Battlefeild forever."

Dumbledore gave them time to digest the information and said "So as you would have understood we have seven yrs to get through their defences and unite the pieces. The remaining 7 of them have surfaced in Desserts of Africa, Indonesia, Cannada, Russia,Jungles of Amazon, Iran and Mexico. Each place is rumoured to have indications of traits of the person to dissolve the power of the locket. My friends in these countries have maintained this, a secret; so that there won't be any complications, but i am afraid we have limited time, as these ruins can't be kept a secret for long time. And once they are out, we will have a slim chance of uniting them."

Harry looked around to face Fudge and said in a voice which sounded very low and distant "Well it seems you win this time Fudge. I guess we won't have time for all the practice anymore."

**A/N :** PLEASE READ AND REVIEW


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